Taking A Chill Pill

Well, I feel like writing something… I just don’t know what.

 I am having a chill out day, well deserved after a hard week at work and an even harder weekend before that and as I look out of the window I don’t think I could have picked a better day to have one, it’s blowing a hooey and pissing down, typical autumn weather. I could have been casting at Paul’s  this weekend  and been out in it, so it looks like a wise decision not to go. I am, however, going up to Hanningfield tomorrow to fish with Paul and anyone else who decides to come along. I’m looking forward to that because it is probably the last time I will fish this year. Next year will be something new for me. I intend to fly fish the salt. I have never done it before and I am hoping it reawaken the excitement and enthusiasm for fishing regularly. Of course that will mean buying a few bits and bobs of new tackle, not rods though, I have enough of them to open a shop. I will need a reel that can stand up to salt water so if any of you can recommend a cheap(ish) reel that can handle salt, sand and a bit of a battering ,please let me know. I don’t want a work of art, I want functional.

 It was the last BFCC  meeting of the year last weekend and I was lucky enough to win a couple of events, which makes a pleasant change, check out the news and results section at www.thebfcc.co.uk . I have actually been doing some serious distance practice over the last couple of months and it seems to be paying off. I even hit a new PB of 138’6” a couple of weeks ago, with a five weight. I had thought those days were behind me as I haven’t cast over 130 for at least a couple of years, not with a five weight anyway. It’s nice to know I can still do it if I want to.

 I used to practice several times a week for two or three hours at a time and come in thoroughly knackered. It took a couple of years before it finally dawned on me that I was often throwing my best distances as I got more tired, ie, putting less effort in and concentrating on technique. Now I try to concentrate on making little adjustments here and there and I rarely cast for more than an hour at a time these days, not distance anyway. When I look back I sometimes wonder how I got away with so few injuries. I sometimes had to stop casting for two or three months while tennis elbow, a pulled shoulder muscle or a sore wrist cleared up. I found out the hard way that you should never start again too early after an injury or you are soon back to square one. I don’t get any of that these days, as soon as I feel a twinge I stop. I don’t heal as fast as I used to.

 Ah well, I had better get on with sorting out my gear for tomorrow, who knows, I may even catch something.